Statement of Community Involvement (SCI)
The Lambeth Statement of Community Involvement (SCI) was adopted by the council on 28 April 2008.
The SCI is a statutory document which sets out Lambeth council's commitments to involving local communities, businesses and other organisations in all planning decisions. It identifies who will be consulted, in what manner, and when the consultation will take place. The Government requires this document to ensure that communities are appropriately involved in planning for their areas.
The consultation methods must conform with the requirements set by the Government and adopt effective ways of ensuring consultation, encouraging and supporting community engagement, within realistic budgetary and resource limits.
The SCI is now a legal document and part of our Local Development Framework (LDF).
Stages in preparing the SCI
The council consulted on the draft SCI between May and June 2007, which resulted in a number of revisions to the document.
The final version of the SCI - the 'Submission Draft' - was submitted to the Secretary of State for independent examination in November 2007.
At this time the council also sought views on the document through a further six-week round of public consultation.
An examination to assess the 'soundness' of the SCI was carried out by an independent planning Inspector during February/March 2008. All of the representations received within the six-week consultation period were forwarded to the appointed Inspector for consideration in his assessment of the soundness of the SCI.
The final Inspector's report, received on 12 March 2008, concluded that the SCI was sound, subject to a number of small changes. The Inspector's report was binding, meaning the council must adopt the Inspector's recommendations in the final version of the SCI. The Inspector's report can be viewed below.
You can also see details of the consultation which took place prior to the adoption of the SCI (including summaries of the comments received) in the Regulation 28 and Regulation 31 consultation statements below.
To keep the SCI up to date the council will monitor how effective its community involvement techniques have been and who has been involved, and identify any gaps. We will then use this information to review and update the SCI.